For hundreds of years, the Philosopher’s Stone was the principal goal sought by thousands of alchemists across Europe and the Middle East. In theory, an alchemist who could combine the attributes of the four elements would be able to create an object that could transmute other metals into gold and grant longevity, if not eternal life. The search for this object was enmeshed in mythology, as various thinkers traced the origin of the Stone through Solomon’s temple and back to the Garden of Eden. The Stone even became woven into the theologies of Christian and Muslim theologians. But its mystical nature belies the fact that the search for the Stone was grounded in real academic pursuits: any alchemist worth his salt was well versed in geology, metallurgy, mathematics, astronomy, and distillation.

Instead of eternal life, the alchemists discovered liquor.